"Ace" wrote in message news:hH6Xb.170881$U%5.798626@attbi_s03...
I am considering buying an Aprilaire or a Desert Spring furnace humidifier
and would like your opinions about
them. The Desert Spring costs $259.95 plus 14.95 S&H and covers up to 4200sq
ft. I think the Aprilaire 700 covers about the same. It costs about 229.95
plus
S&H. One thing that interests me about the Desert Spring is that there is
nothing to periodically replace in it, just clean out a lower pan on it or
install an automatic flush device on it. They say you don't need one if you
have soft water.
I would appreciate your opinions. Thanks

I installed a Honeywell HE260 last weekend on our geothermal heat
pump. It is a bypass model similar to the Aprilaire. Very happy with
it so far. I've done more research since I installed it than I did
before, and I am glad I went with the pad type unit. It seems that
this design is mechanically the simplest, and probably avoids many
problems such as bacteria growth and deposit build up. It does require
a drain which wasn't a problem for my installation. The unit was about
$122 at a local HVAC supply house through my business. Included
humidistat, but I had to buy 6" duct pipe, elbows, damper, drain and
supply lines. Installation wasn't bad. I installed the humidistat next
to the thermostat. I simplified the wiring some by tapping into the
24vac blower control line at the thermostat and running that through
the humidistat and then back to the solenoid on the humidifier by
means of an unused wire in the thermostat cable. That eliminmated the
need for the 24vac transformer that came with the unit. In time I may
opt to replace the humidistat with an outdoor sensing type, but so far
I've left it set on 40% and all has worked well. The air is sure more
comfortable than when we relied on a portable unit and I love not
messing with water jugs. Here is a link to more info on the Honeywell
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhom.../he220_260.htm.

BTW, I read somewhere that the Honeywell uses like 3.5 gph as opposed
to 6 gph for some other units. Since I am using hot water as
recommended for heat pump installations, that sounded like a plus.
Most of that is used for flushing and about .7 gph goes into the air.
The .7 gph seems common to other units of this size and type.
Regards,
Ken